M A T E

~Connor's POV~

"Alpha!" The pack guard called out through the mind link. My guard rose up and my ears straightened at the urgency in the guard's voice.

Was the pack in danger?

"What?" I asked.

"You are needed, Alpha." The guard said.

"Where are you?" I asked again, packing the files.

"The southern border."

I left what I was doing and hurried out of the office. I moved really fast towards the place. Who knows what was happening?

Getting to the place, I saw some of the guards gathered around the place and my brows knotted in confusion.

"What is with the gathering?" I asked from behind them and they all turned around to me.

"Good day, Alpha." They greeted.

"Why did you call me is what I asked." I said again.

"This–" Suddenly, a scent drifted into my nostrils that had it twitched. I sniffed the air, unable to get rid of this alluring smell. Or even get enough of the scent.

Who does this scent belong to?

Looking down, in front of the tree, sat a lady in shattered dress and she looked unkempt and malnourished and she seemed to be sleeping.

How come she is yet to notice us?

Tenor stirred up and seemed suddenly interested in her.

Who is she?

"Mate!" He said and I stepped back a bit in abrupt shock.

Mate? How could I have a mate? And that too so soon?

"Please, don't give me that. Selene promised us a new mate. See, she look lean. Take her inside." He said but I could not move from the place.

"Alpha, we found this lady outside here. She was shivering in the cold and she did not smell like a rogue." He said.

Yes, she did not smell like a rogue because I am her supposed mate. Slowly her eyes opened and she seemed to be growing accustomed to her environment.

"Where am I?" She asked. We soon locked gazed and she gasped. "Mate!"

To say I was shocked with what the lady said before I utter anything would be an understatement. She just called me mate. As in Mate of all description. And was I filling the bond already? That was a capital letter YES. Do I want to deny it? Yes!

How could she be so sure of me being her mate? This lady...

The pack guards started murmuring among each other.

"Take her to the prison." I ordered and she rose up instantly with a weird reflex action.

"Prison?" She asked with wide eyes as if she was expecting to hug her with both arms and grin wide.

"I am your mate!" She said firmly. Way too firmly and I snorted.

"Mate or not. You are going to the prison." I said and the guards were reluctant to take her. I glared at them and they scurried towards her, grabbing her by the arm.

"You are really heartless." She said.

Mate is feisty. Huh?

"You should not have taken her to the prison." Tenor said.

"Hey, wolf. This is a pack and we need to be careful." I said.

"Don't be softhearted." I added and he rolled his eyes.

"Who is?" He snickered.

I walked round the border one more time, not having the feeling to go back to the pack house.

*

*

"What am I hearing, Connor?" Ryan asked through the mind link and I purses my lips. These gossip of a guard.

"Yes, you heard right." I replied him.

"Really? But how is that possible?" He asked.

"I don't know. I am coming in now." I said and went to the kitchen. He turned around from the food he was eating.

"I am yet to talk to her but sending her to the prison?" He asked and I scoffed.

"She looked off to me." I said with a click of my tongue.

"She looked off to you? Connor, this is your second chance at mate and you are telling me these? We need a Luna. You have to accept. The pack can't wait to meet her." He said and I relaxed.

The pack can't wait to meet her? They must be happy that the moon goddess sent another Luna for them.

I exhaled. "I will think about it." I said and he rolled his eyes.

"I can't wait to meet my mate also." He mused and I smiled.

"At least, the urge comes once in a while." I said jokingly and he threw an apple at me which I caught. I bit into the apple and savored it taste.

"If you have this inkling feeling that something is off about her then we should investigate her." He said and I thought about it.

"I think so." I shrugged.

"Alpha, we will like to meet you." Elder Matthew said through the mind link.

Oh, yes. Now getting advice from elders, I guess.

I sighed. "Come in."

Seven elders with different purposes for the pack entered. "Good Day, Alpha." They greeted and I shook them off.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"The Luna..."

"I know."

"She is in the prison."

"I know."

"She should be brought to the pack house."

"I know."

"You..."

"I know." I cut him and they all kept quiet.

"I don't want any mate for now." I said truthfully and they gawked at me.

"I have to interrogate her first." I said and made my way past them. Ryan walked behind me as I head towards the prison. She stood there, jerking at the chains that were round her arms. She sneered at me. Ryan snickered at her in return. Beta's doings.

"She looks weird to me." He said through the mind link.

"Mate." I thought.

"Will you release me now?" She asked and I scoffed.

"No, I am here to ask you a question." I said, unlocking the pad lock and stepping in to the prison.

"Who are you?" I asked her, staring into her eyes deeply as if I wanted to search for the reason Selene bonded me to her.

"Aren't we supposed to be all lovey-dovey when you ask that? At least that is what my mother told me." she wondered aloud and Ryan stifled a laughter.

"We will only be that when I find out you are not a threat to my pack." I replied, bored.

"Who are you?" I asked again. She seemed to realize that I was dead serious this time.

"I am Alyssa." She said.

Alyssa? Why does that name sound familiar yet unfamiliar?